Novel paint container

ABSTRACT

A paint container which not only acts as a storage means but can also be used to apply the paint therein to the desired surface with a roller or pad applicator without the inconvenience of the separate paint tray heretofore used with rollers while avoiding the transfer of small quantities of paint from the storage container to the paint tray.

United States Patent Daniel Schoenholz Far Rockaway, N.Y. 854,131

Aug. 29, 1969 Sept. 7, 1971 Foster D. Snell, Inc. Florham Park, NJ.

Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee NOVEL PAINT CONTAINER 5Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl l5/257.06 Int. Cl B44d 3/12 Field ofSearch l5/l04.8,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1907 Spingler g 1,938,90412/1933 Harris l5/2S7.06

2,204,190 6/1940 Siege] 15/257.06 2,646,808 7/ 1953 Yenne 15/ 104.922,922,176 l/l960 Bernhardt l5/257.06

3,139,646 7/1964 Vernon l5/257.06

Primary Examiner-Walter A. Scheel Assistant Examiner-C. K. MooreAttorney-Hammond & Littell ABSTRACT: A paint container which not onlyacts as a storage means but can also be used to apply the paint thereinto the desired surface with a roller or pad applicator without theinconvenience of the separate paint tray heretofore used with rollerswhile avoiding the transfer of small quantities of paint from thestorage container to the paint tray.

PATENTEUSEP nan INVENTOR DANIEL SCHOENHOLZ BY 7. HM J Z 326 ATTORNEYSFIG-.3

NOVEL PAINT CONTAINER STATE OF THE ART In the art of applying paint andsimilar coating materials to wall surfaces, the use of rollers forroller coating has proved to be a successful and a widely usedlabor-saving device as compared to brush application. The process ofusing a roller for this purpose also requires the use of a special trayinto which paint is poured from a can. The roller is then charged withpaint from the paint in the tray and the amount in the roller isadjusted to that desired for application by rolling against embossingsin the tray to remove excess paint. The necessity for having a separatetray in addition to the can of paint and the roller itself introduceselements of inconvenience, particularly where painting is being donefrom a ladder.

In the application of paint by the roller applicator method, it isnecessary to have a relatively wide tray sufficient to receive a rollerhaving a length of 6 or more inches. It is further necessary to submergethe roller to a considerable extent within the paint contained in thetray so that the paint containers for roller application have taken onthe aspect of broad shallow pans. Such pans are cumbersome and requirefrequent refilling. They have generally been provided with the baseformed as an inclined drain surface extending from below the level ofthe paint contained therein to a point above the level, the latter forthe purpose of providing an exposed regulator surface upon which theroller may be rolled to spread the paint applied to the roller uniformlyover the entire roller circumference and length. Such inclined drainsurfaces have interfered with the quantity of paint which it is possibleto place within the pan, and the apparatus in general has been foundcumbersome and difiicult to handle and liable to result in spillageduring use or filling.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION A further object of the invention is to providea paint container with a paint regulator wherein the bottom wall of thepaint container is substantially horizontal or slightly inclined thusproviding a greater storage volume for the paint.

THE INVENTION The novel paint container of the invention for storing aquantity of paint and for the application of the said paint with aroller or pad applicator comprises a substantially rectangularparallelepiped shaped container provided with a closure means on the topthereof, a paint regulator extending from one sidewall at a point abovethe paint level and in a substantially horizontal plane across saidcontainer and terminating short of the opposite sidewall, the distancebetween the extended edge of the paint regulator and the nearer sidewallbeing sufficiently great to allow passage of a pad or roller applicatorinto the interior of the said container.

The inconvenience of having to work with separate paint tray and paintcan has been obviated by the herein-described invention which is aspecially designed paint container which includes, as a part thereof, anadditional member or regulator to serve the function of the tray. Themember may be either an integral part of the paint container or separatebut attachable thereto. The paint container is a generally rectangularlyshaped receptacle, the width of which is sufficient to accommodate thewidth of a roller. The volume of the paint container is substantial interms of the conventional paint trays and is preferably of the samecapacity of normal paint cans, like 1 gallon.

The integral or removably attached paint regulator is preferably made ofmetal but can be made of any suitable material. The regulator ispreferably provided with alternate longitudinal ridges and depressionsto aid in removing excess paint and in uniformly distributing paint overthe roller or pad applicator when the applicator is pushed against theregulator under light pressure. The regulator may be horizontallypositioned or may slope inwardly at a slight angle of a few degrees fromthe horizontal.

The paint regulator may also be provided with seepage openings whichwould provide for return of excess paint. The height of the paintregulator should be such that a sufficient portion of the paintregulator is above the paint level in a normally filled container sothat none of the paint need be transferred to permit rolling of theroller applicator there against.

With the novel paint container of the invention, the user no longerneeds to pour paint into a tray. All the user requires is two items: aroller or a pad applicator and the specially designed paint containerdescribed herein. In this manner of use, the can can be equipped withsuitable attaching or stabilizing parts so that the act of rolling onthe tray would not tip the can.

The above and other novel features of the invention will become moreapparent hereinafter from the following detailed description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood thatthe drawings are employed for purposes of illustration only and are notintended to define the limits of the invention.

In the drawings, wherein like references designate like parts:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the paint container in a closedcondition;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the paint container and rollerapplicator in an open condition;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the paint container and rollerapplicator.

The paint container 10, shown in its closed condition in FIG. 1,includes a generally rectangular receptacle l2 and a closure 14. Thepaint container is preferably made of sheet metal, although othermaterials such as wood, plastic and paperboard can be used. A handle,generally illustrated by 16, is provided on the container to facilitateits handling and transportation.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the paint container consists ofsidewalls, 18, 20; end walls 22, 24 and bottom 26. The bottom 26 may beslightly inclined towards the reservoir section 29, which is located atone end of the paint container and may be slightly depressed inreference to the bottom 26. Paint regulator 28, shown in FIG. 3 as beingintegral with the paint container, extends from end wall 22 andterminates short of end wall 24. The terminal portion of paint regulator28 rests on a cross bar 30 which is affixed at its ends to sidewalls 18and 20. The terminal portion of paint regulator 28 rests on a cross bar30 which is affixed at its ends to sidewalls 18 and 20. The paintregulator 28 is provided with ridges 32 and depressions 34, arrangedalternately lengthwise of the paint regulator. The paint regulator maybe embossed and may have a plurality of drain openings 36 through whichexcess paint drains into the paint container.

Although the paint regulator 28 may extend horizontally, it is preferredthat it be slightly inclined. The point here is that there should be asufficient area of the paint regulator surface above the paint level ina normally full paint container to permit adjustment of the amount ofpaint on the roller applicator without the need for removing any paintfrom the paint container. The terminal portion of paint regulator 28 isheaded, as shown at 40, for safety reasons.

The paint regulator 28 may be integral with the paint container, as isshown in FIG. 3, or it may be a separate unit which can be snapped inplace when ready for use. Whether the paint regulator is to be integralor removable will depend on practicability and judgment of the designer.As used herein, the term "integral" is taken to mean as being rigid andform ing a part of another structure.

Surrounding the paint container is a continuous depression 38 whichmates with a corresponding bead (not shown) on the closure 14 forpress-fitting the closure to the paint container for storage.

The paint container is purchased in the condition illustrated in FIG. 1,containing a quantity of paint. A portion of the paint regulator extendsabove the paint level in the paint container for the purpose of rollingthe roller applicator thereon. Roller applicator 42 is dipped in paintbetween end wall 24 and beaded portion 40 of the paint regulator 28 andis then rolled over the section of the paint regulator extending abovethe level of the paint in order to remove excess paint and to unifonnlydistribute it over the exposed surface of the roller applicator. Theexcess paint drains back into the paint container through drain holes36. Since the bottom 26 is slightly inclined towards reservoir 29, anypaint left in the paint container would tend to drain into the reservoirsection where it would be taken up by the roller applicator.

Various modifications of the invention may be made without departingfrom the spirit or scope thereof.

I claim:

l. A paint container for packaging and storing a quantity of paint andfor application of the said paint with a roller or pad applicatorcomprising a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shaped containerprovided with a removable pressfitting closure means on the top thereof,a paint regulator provided with drain holes extending from one sidewallat a point above the paint level and in a substantially horizontal planeacross said container and terminating short of the opposite sidewall,the extended edge of the regulator being supported the distance betweenthe extended edge of the paint regulator and the nearer sidewall beingsufficiently great to allow passage of a pad or roller applicator intothe interior of the I said container, the paint regulator being slightlyinclined towards the bottom of the container.

2. A paint container of claim 1 wherein the paint regulator is rigid andintegral with the paint container.

3. The paint container of claim 1 wherein the paint regulator isremovably attached to the sidewall of the container.

4. The paint container of claim 1 wherein the bottom of the container isslightly inclined to form a reservoir in the end of the container opento the applicator.

5. The paint container of claim 1 wherein the paint regulator isprovided with alternate longitudinal ridges and depressrons.

1. A paint container for packaging and storing a quantity of paint andfor application of the said paint with a roller or pad applicatorcomprising a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shaped containerprovided with a removable press-fitting closure means on the topthereof, a paint regulator provided with drain holes extending from onesidewall at a point above the paint level and in a substantiallyhorizontal plane across said container and terminating short of theopposite sidewall, the extended edge of the regulator being supportedthe distance between the extended edge of the paint regulator and thenearer sidewall being sufficiently great to allow passage of a pad orroller applicator into the interior of the said container, the paintregulator being slightly inclined towards the bottom of the container.2. A paint container of claim 1 wherein the paint regulator is rigid andintegral with the paint container.
 3. The paint container of claim 1wherein the paint regulator is removably attached to the sidewall of thecontainer.
 4. The paint container of claim 1 wherein the bottom of thecontainer is slightly inclined to form a reservoir in the end of thecontainer open to the applicator.
 5. The paint container of claim 1wherein the paint regulator is provided with alternate longitudinalridges and depressions.